Police deviance has become a contemporary issue that has received major media attention in recent decades although it has existed since the beginning of policing.  There are many aspects of policing such as the role of police, police authority, and police discretion that are quite ambiguous when it comes to defining them.  The definitions are often dependent on who is defining them, whether it be a citizen or police officer.  These three facets of policing play major roles in whether a police officer is viewed as a “good cop” versus a “bad cop” to their peers as well as to society.  When a police officer abuses their authority and/or discretion, it can result in police deviance.  Police misconduct, police corruption, and police crime are all types of police deviance, and all have effects on public attitudes towards police.  The three types of police deviance identified can be correlated using the “slippery slope” of police deviance.  Lastly, research has been done to examine ways to eliminate these types of behavior and improve ethics in policing.  Furthermore, in order to understand police deviance, it is important to first understand how police misconduct, police corruption, and police crime are related, why they happen, how they impact public attitudes towards police, and what can be done to minimize or even eliminate them from policing.
    One prominent theory that seeks to provide a conceptual framework for a continuum of police deviance that can ultimately result in police crime is the notion of the ‘slippery slope’ of police deviance.  According to Dunham and Alpert, “the slippery slope examination is that some officers start down the path of deviance with relatively minor transgressions and then proceed to more serious misconduct in a slow but steady progression”.  The concept is initiated when a police officer engages in some type of minor violation of rules, regulations, or procedures of their department.  Examples of minor violations include but are not limited to:  the usage of police resources for unethical or improper reasons, security breaches, use of profanity or obscene language, and racial slurs.    
The next step on the “slippery slope” continuum is police corruption.  The main component of police corruption is the misuse of police authority for personal gain, but it also can involve criminal conspiracy and involvement with organized crime.  These acts may also overlap with police crime when laws are violated.  Police subculture is directly related to this step partly because of the ethos of secrecy and postulates of the police culture that may deter a police officer from exposing the corruption.  Explanations that have been offered as to why police corruption occurs include theories on the role of society in law enforcement, negative influence from an officer’s own department, and simply that some people just have a natural tendency to behave unethically.
The final step of the “slippery slope” theory is police crime or predatory policing of which both terms are used interchangeably in this paper.  Predatory policing is when police officers are actively engaging in illegal acts.  Ultimately, it is when a police officer or officers proactively engage in criminal behavior and whether the act was related to their position in law enforcement or not is irrelevant.  
